Your Pet's Rescue Story
Dino and his sister Petra were red pit bull pups given to a family with young children in our neighborhood when they were 8 weeks old. The family resided on the route where we frequently walk. Dino and Petra lived in the yard and sometimes ran after us in the street when we walked by. As they got bigger, a neighbor of the family told me they were constantly out loose and aggressively chasing his cats. When I eventually asked, I was told they had been inside the home only once, but had "made a mess." A large bag of dry dog food was left open on the ground next to the garage and had dirt and pieces of Styrofoam in it. There was no water bowl. Having our own pets, we really hoped for something positive to happen to them; however, as the weeks passed, one day I noticed the thin collar left on Petra was too small and growing into her neck. I knocked on the door and spoke to the woman who lived there, she told me she had three young children, could not take care of the dogs and did not want them. She told me they had never been to the vet or had a bath. She knew their birthdate (October 16), which, as it turns out, was the same day as mine! As we watched this situation heading for a probable sad ending, my husband and I felt that we had to ask her to let us take them. She wanted $200 for them, and we paid it. At five months old, they were more like wild dogs than pets and fought us as we loaded them into the car. I initially thought I would have to take them to Pet Alliance but when I looked online, I saw the shelter was full of pits, including pit puppies. I put out the word on social media and interviewed candidates for adoption. I had the pups spayed and neutered. Potty-training was a big challenge as they had spent the first 5 months of their lives outside with no thought of it. After several weeks, we found an excellent home for Petra. We had no experience with pits, but Dino's clownish personality as seen in this photo stole our hearts, and we ended up making him a permanent member of our family.